Tim Burton helped keep up at 136-year-old tradition in the English seaside resort town of Blackpool, County Lancashire by flipping the switch to turn on the lights for the Blackpool Illuminations.

The film director also premiered a trailer for his latest film, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. Burton filmed scenes from the movie in Blackpool.

With a lobster claw on his hand raised high, he told the crowd of 20,000 that had gathered on the promenade at The Headlands Arena, “To be given the town’s highest honour is incredible and I’m really excited. I’m sure it will be a wonderful show.”